Authors note) Here the second chapter, its a lot shorter than the first, most of the chapters are probably going to be about this length and to be honest i have no idea how long the stories going to run for. Hope you enjoy it. I have no beta readers but I wouldn't mind some.
The sections in italics are flashbacks.
Bleach is owned by Tite Kubo
Gin awoke with a start and sat up as he felt a drip on his face and realized that the roof of their hovel had sprung another leak. He looked over at the other occupant who was huddled under a threadbare blanket atopt a thin mattress. He let out a sigh as he looked at Rangiku's peacefully sleeping form and almost wished that she didn't have to wake up and see where she was, but rather that she could dream forever.
Gin felt tears pricking at his eyes as he thought back to his dream and how he had betrayed her. The more he thought about it the more he wanted to laugh at the idea of his old classmate Sosuke Aizen trying to become a god. The chuckle finally escaped him at the idea of the world relying on that local kid Ichigo Kurosaki to save it, what would he do scowl his opponents to death.
Gin kicked himself as he realized that his laugh had awoken Rangiku. He blinked away the tears as she turned her startlingly blue eyes towards him. A look of infinite compassion contained within.
Gin had been left on the streets when he was little; he'd spent most of his childhood being tossed from one orphanage to another. Gin could admit to himself that he was a trouble maker, who tended to scare the other kids. That though all changed when he met Rangiku in one of those orphanages. He'd been 12 at the time and it could truthfully be said that it was a life changing event for both of them. While Rangiku had forced Gin to interact within social circles and had unlocked the hidden well of emotions deep down within him, Gin had protected her from the approaches of some of the more lecherous boys, not that she really needed his help. When they were 16 they had escaped from the orphanage together. Gin when he looked back still didn't know what it was that had drawn him to Rangiku, but when he had seen her being picked on by some of the boys at the orphanage he had felt an irresistible need to help her. He often wondered what their lives would have been like if they had never met each other. Hell life wouldn't have been half as much fun; still maybe Ran wouldn't be forced to live in such awful conditions.
Gin was interrupted from his reflections when Rangiku suddenly decided to hug him. He finally managed to squirm free from her grasp.
"Why the hell did you do that Ran?"
"You looked so sad and on the first day of senior year, aren't you excited we're almost old enough to drink legally"
Gin chuckled "it being illegal never seemed to stop you before"
Rangiku just grinned and shrugged before standing up "I'm going for a shower" and with that she strode toward the bathroom leaving Gin alone with his thoughts again.
Gin and Rangiku were about to begin attending a new school in Karakura this year. they had had to move schools regularly since they left the orphanage for fear that they would be found, even though Gin thought the orphanage probably didn't care too much and anyway once they were 18 they could stop worrying. This year was slightly different as it turned out that karakura high was being amalgamated with two other schools under a new name and it just so happened that they used to attend one of the schools involved in the merger. Gin couldn't help but smile as he knew that despite this the first day would follow the same predictable course. While Rangiku would quickly become part of the popular crowd, Gin would be labeled as a freak due to his constant grinning. Gin actually liked it that way as he was also left alone because the grinning scared people as well as freaking then out. This was an added benefit as the whole reason that Gin grinned so much was to hide what he was truly thinking and being left alone just provided him with an extra layer of security for his thoughts. He had long ago realized that the best way to avoid emotional harm was quite simply to avoid ever getting to close to anyone, a vow that he had broken when he had got close to Rangiku, a decision that he couldn't bring himself to regret even if at first despite having protected her he had tried to remain distant from her but she had forced her way into his life.
Rangiku removed her clothes leaving only the necklace that she wore at all times on before stepping into the shower and turning it on at full blast in the vain hope that it would wash away her fear at starting a whole new school. She may not appear nervous as she covered it with enthusiasm but deep buried inside her there was a terrible fear that was constantly fighting to escape from her. This fear was in part held in check by her friendship with Gin, a friendship that everyone else thought was completely inexplicable but then again none of them really knew the real Rangiku the only person who could claim that was Gin. He though still remained somewhat of a mystery to her, despite the fact that she had known and lived with him for six years now. She still remembered the day that they had first met when he had saved her.
She had been lucky to survive they said even though she didn't feel that way, the moment that her whole life had changed constantly flashed before her. She remembered there was a storm and her father had been mad about something, that's why they had to leave the party early, he should never have been driving he was too busy shouting at her mother about something she hadn't understood at the time. She fervently wished that she had never realized they were talking about the fact that her mother was having an affair behind her father's back. He hadn't realized how wet the road was when he took the bend on the way home; the last thing Rangiku remembered was her mother throwing her body across Rangiku. She remembered the sight of the necklace she now wore hanging before her eyes before her vision went blank. When she woke up in the hospital they had told her that the only reason she had survived was because of her mother's actions, they had then informed her that both her parents had died from the injuries they had received in the crash. The news hadn't got any better afterwards as she had been calmly informed that her parents had left her with nothing, and thus from now on she would be living in an orphanage.
It had been on her first day at the orphanage that she had first met Gin. She'd been understandable terrified, that fear she now realized had merely put a target on her back. It therefore wasn't surprising that some of the boys had taken it upon themselves to introduce her to the harsh realities of life in the orphanage.
The largest of the boys had blocked her path before dealing her a slap that sent her crashing to the floor the coldness of the floor and the force of the slap rapidly brought her out of the dream world that she had been trying to weave around herself in order to escape the nightmare that was her life now. The bully had loomed over her before crouching down to bring his sneering face level with hers "look little girl you do what we tell you okay", Rankigu though had looked beyond him to the whipcord thin boy who was watching her through slitted eyes his head cocked slightly to one side, a wide grin on his face.
The boy had let out a sigh before approaching a slightly confused expression playing across his face as if he himself didn't understand why he was helping her.
He'd fearlessly stepped up to the bullies the grin returning to his face and rather surprisingly the bullies had retreated from him in fear despite the fact that they were all larger than the boy. The boy cocked his head slightly as his grin widened "now why don't ya just leave her alone". The bullies had just glared at him while he grinned at them; the bullies' final broke the contact and stalked away with a final glare at the boy. The boy had just waved at their backs "Bye Bye" causing the bullies steps to stutter slightly as they tensed in anger before storming away.
Rangiku expected the boy to help her but instead he had just walked away without another word leaving her alone lying on the cold floor, a position she had remained in for some time realizing that there was no way out of this situation and that all she could do was survive, the first thing she planned to do was befriend the boy had saved her.
Rangiku grinned as she thought back on how long it had taken her to become friends with Gin, everyone else seemed to be afraid of him because they thought he was creepy and played sick pranks on people. She though hadn't seen that but had rather seen the one person who had been willing to protect her when she most needed it and so simply by forcing him to interact with her through constant pestering.
Gin's friendship and protection had proved to be invaluable to her especially she went through puberty and her body began to develop. She dreaded to think what would have happened to her without him. It was odd to think that despite all they had been through together, he still had the capacity to surprise her. It had been his idea to run away from the orphanage and get out on their own in the world; she considered her decision to follow him as one of the few good ones of her life.
She though did on occasion feel racked with guilt for holding him back, despite his antisocial nature he was actually very loyal to the very few people who he considered friends and thus he was unwilling to leave.
This guilt had begun the year before when she had discovered that he was a genius and purposefully held himself back in class to avoid graduating early. This was a discovery she refused to share with anyone as the least she owed him was her support of his decision.
As Rangiku stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around herself she forced a smile onto her face, to try and hide the sorrow that had arisen in her from the thought of her past. She knew it would never fool Gin but that he wouldn't mention it.
While Rangiku was in the shower Gin ensured that both his and Ran's bags had everything they needed in them for school, before he headed into the kitchen and prepared a meager breakfast for them. The eternal grin that he wore was no longer on his face as he moved around the small kitchen putting bread in the aged and decrepit toaster for toast.
He heard the bathroom door open behind him and turned round to see Rangiku step out of the bathroom wearing a smile he knew to be false before she stepped into the bedroom they shared in order to get changed for school as he took her place in the shower.
Gin showered rapidly refusing to let his thought wander and instead concentrating on a spider that was slowly questing its way upwards towards the ceiling, and he took malicious pleasure it knocking it back down just as it had almost reached its goal. He insured that he didn't kill it though and watched in fascination as it began its ascent again, a small amount of respect growing in him at its refusal to give up.
He stepped out of the shower leaving the spider to its quest alone as he left the bathroom to prepare for school.
As they left the apartment Gin allowed himself an honest smile at the fact that it was almost over, soon they would no longer have to worry about being taken back to the orphanage and they could begin to final get on with their lives.
End note) Hey hope that was fun, It'll take longer for the next update sorry, not sure yet who will feature. the real story won't start for a few chapters yet, when our erstwhile hero Ichigo will enter and school actually starts. Sorry if you didn't like it. Reviews and constructive criticism are encouraged, .
